A Flexible LNG Conditioning and NGL Recovery Process for LNGReceiving Terminals

摘要

In the United States, pipeline gas is predominantly methane with some nitrogenrnand carbon dioxide. Heating values generally range between 1000 and 1075 Btu/scfrn(HHV). Many pipelines specify a maximum HHV of 1050 Btu/scf while some have arnmaximum heating value specification of 1075 Btu/scf. There are only a few LNGrnsources that have a sufficiently low heating value for direct injection to the U.S. salesrngas pipelines.rnThis paper presents a process that can be used to control the Btu content ofrnpipeline gas derived from imported LNG with the production of ethane and LPG forrnsales. The Fluor? CryoGassm process (patent pending) utilizes the cryogenicrnrefrigeration provided by LNG for NGL fractionation and re-liquefaction of the resultingrnresidue gas to form a lean LNG which meets typical U.S. pipeline gas specifications.rnThe CryoGas LNG conditioning unit can recover over 97% of the propane and aboutrn70% of the ethane in the LNG and can operate in either an ethane recovery or anrnethane rejection mode.